A film festival that isn't 'snobby'

Landlocked Film Festival will present 60 films this weekend around downtown Iowa City

Oct. 24, 2012

Written by

Alesha L. Crews

Iowa City Press-Citizen

If you go

• What: Landocked Film Festival. • When: Today through Sunday. • Where: The Englert Theatre, Iowa City Public Library, The Bijou Cinema and Gabe’s. • Cost: Free to $7 per film, a festival pass is available for $30.

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No matter what type of films you’re into — Hollywood, documentary, animated or even musicals — local independent film aficionado Mary Blackwood is certain there’s a film for you at Iowa City’s Landlocked Film Festival.

“We have a lot of variety. We do it on purpose because we are hoping that there is something for everybody,” said Blackwood, the festival’s founder and president.

Now in its sixth year, Landlocked Film Festival will present more than 60 films — ranging from two minutes to two hours — in nine categories in venues throughout downtown Iowa City today through Sunday.

The festival received more than 200 entries from filmmakers as far away as China, Denmark, Spain, Thailand and India — along with filmmakers closer to home — which a group of volunteers sorted through, looking for something special.

Blackwood said the screening committee looks for films on a diversity of topics with compelling stories that would be of interest to audience members.

“Some of the films we accept may not be as polished as the latest Hollywood (films), but if they have heart and soul or maybe they have a wonderful script — but you can tell they didn’t have much money to make it — if they still had a vision and they carried through a compelling film, we’ll show it,” she said.

Filmmaker John Putch, who will be presenting at Landlocked for the second time, said he thinks the lineup of films at the festival is what makes it special.

“I love the Landlocked Film Festival, and here is why: They show really nice, thoughtful movies that aren’t snobby,” he said. “… Sometimes with independent films, there is a stink of arrogance and Landlocked doesn’t have that, and I really appreciate that.”

Putch will be presenting “Route 30 Too!” the second movie in a trilogy depicting life along Route 30 in South Central Pennsylvania, near the place he grew up.

The comedy — which stands alone from the first film but still carries on some of the same characters — makes fun of the rumors of supernatural happenings along Highway 30 and also fictionalizes stories that happened along the route during his upbringing.

“I sort of smash them together and have an ‘X-Files’ meets ‘Dumb and Dumber’ type of movie,” he said.

Other feature-length films range from the western “Heathens & Thieves,” to the animated comedy “Ronal the Barbarian,” to a documentary following the wife of Paul Engle titled “One Tree Three Lives,” to a documentary following a young journalist as she covers the 2011 Egyptian revolution called “Words of Witness.”

Saturday brings two politically charged documentaries shown back-to-back at the Englert as part of the festival’s special election year program. The first, titled “Party Crashers,” follows the rise of the tea party. The second, titled “As Goes Janesville,” investigates the stresses and strains on middle-class Americans.